Movie Food from “Steel Magnolias”

When trying to come up with ideas for a recipe round-up I found myself thinking about movies.  Everyone loves movies and I’m no exception, but I realized that I seem to always notice food and food themes when watching a film.  The foodie inside of me can’t help but be intrigued by interesting or delicious sounding meals or confections that leave me thinking about how I can duplicate this or that or wondering if I can find a recipe somewhere.  Then it hit me – why not a movie food round-up?

Steel Magnolias is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It’s one of those that I will always watch if I stumble across it while channel surfing.  It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and it just makes me feel good.  The characters are so well-developed and outrageously boisterous – so perfectly exemplary of strong-willed Southern women.  Food is used as a plot device throughout the film, so I knew it would not be hard at all to come up with a nice list of things to replicate at home.  Now I totally want to throw a Steel Magnolias viewing party and serve up some of these goodies!

Photo Credits: The food photos belong to the original bloggers who posted the recipe.  I have not copied the full recipes on this post, so please click through to the original blog posts to see how you can make these things at home.  Also, please leave comments on the recipe posts if you use any of these ideas and show the talented bloggers who came up with them some love!!

Bleeding Armadillo Groom’s Cake from Not Quite Nigella (recipe and instructions here)

We gotta start out with this one – it’s unarguably the first thing to pop in someone’s head when they think of food from Steel Magnolias.  As Shelby said, “People are gonna be hackin’ into this poor animal that looks like it’s bleedin’ to death!”  Well, now you can make your own bleeding armadillo from Not Quite Nigella to impress, and probably gross out, your guests.  Oh, and can we just take a moment to appreciate how thick the frosting layer is on the movie version of the cake?  I’m a frosting lover, we all know this, and I approve of that 3-inch layer of buttercream goodness.

Bourbon Cherry Coke by Heather Christo (recipe here)

Sammy and Annelle first meet at Shelby’s wedding reception when he assures her that drinks from the bar are free.  Adorably, Annelle orders an innocent cherry Coke and thus, their love story begins.  Heather Christo has put together a delicious but not-so-innocent version of cherry Coke that starts with bourbon-soaked cherries.  Um, yes please.

Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake by The Pioneer Woman (recipe here)

Some of my favorite scenes in the movie take place in Truvy’s salon where the women dish about everything from men and weddings to recipes and community gossip.  In one such scene, Clairee is going through Truvy’s recipe box and asks where the recipe is for “Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake”, which Truvy tells her is just a cuppa flour, a cuppa sugar, a cuppa fruit cocktail with the juice just mixed and baked at 350 till goooooold and bubbly!  In all my years of watching this movie it never occurred to me to give the recipe a try, but it seems many people around the Internet have done that very thing!  Pioneer Woman shares her version of Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake served with unsweetened whipped cream (cause man this sucker looks rich!)

Homemade Pork and Beans by My Man’s Belly (recipe here)

Later in the movie when M’Lynn and Shelby are scheduled for surgery, Clairee and Ouiser are shown doing a little charity grocery shopping for Drum while Ouiser eats Twinkies straight out of the box.  There’s a funny exchange as Clairee puts at least a dozen cans of Pork ‘n Beans into the cart, proclaiming that Drum “loves Pork ‘n Beans – eats ’em with everything!”  Well, I found this hearty and just darn delicious looking version of homemade pork and beans from My Man’s Belly and I really need to make it soon because the picture alone is making my mouth water!

Low Country Boil by serious eats (recipe here)

During the Christmas Festival, Truvy and Annelle are shown working one of the food booths and scooping up hearty helpings of Low Country Boil – the perfect holiday food for a movie set in the deep South.  We all remember the line, “You really should try one – we’ve already pulled their little heads off and everything!”  Serious Eats shares how you can make your own Low Country Boil chock full of corn on the cob, red potatoes, and of course shrimp!

Red Beans and Rice from AllRecipes (recipe here)

Annelle is desperate to do something nice for the Eatentons before Shelby and M’Lynn go in for surgery and so she decides to cook something from the “freezes beautifully” section of her cookbook – red beans and rice.  She has a minor freak out as she realizes she needs to soak the red beans overnight before she can begin to make the dish, and Sammy tells her to just make something else.  Then she finds a beer in her “Frigidaire” and all hell breaks loose, but that’s another story.  This recipe for red beans and rice is a good one – I made it last year for Matt and he’s been asking me to make it for him again soon.  It’s extremely filling and makes a ton, so be prepared for leftovers!

Wanna pin these ideas for later?  Here’s a pretty Pinterest-friendly image to use!  Hover your mouse over the image and click, “Pin It!”